PS4 vs Xbox 720 vs Wii U vs Steam Box vs Ouya vs The Rest – Part 1

— February 21, 2013

Now that the PS4 is announced, many of you are probably wondering where it stacks up against the competition. This year is going to be a very big year for gaming with all of the new consoles joining the industry as well as the old giants getting updated to modern levels.

The question is – which should I buy?

Well here’s a very brief rundown of the consoles based on rumors, releases, announcements, and just my own experience.

PS4 is the ULTIMATE gaming machine. Tons of games, gamer social network, tons of ways to interact with games, streaming, seamless downloads, take games with you anywhere. This most certainly is a device centered on gaming. Now that it’s based on X86, PC ports will be plentiful. Oh, and this thing is going to be a bit expensive. You can already tell.

Xbox 720 is looking to be a complete home entertainment device, not as focused on gaming as PS4. Reports are saying that Microsoft is planning on making this the ultimate content consumption device for the home. You can count on music, movie, and game services all taking equal placement of importance. Plus you can count on heavy Kinect 2 support. Basically Microsoft wants to replace every box in your living room with its Xbox and link everything in your house to it.

Wii U has already launched to very meager sales. Basically this tried to evolve the Wii’s unique interaction by adding a tablet but it just hasn’t worked out so far. Basically this is more a device for die hard Nintendo fans looking for new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games. That’s about it.

The Steam Box just got destroyed by the PS4 for the most part. Its selling point was that it was an x86 computer that could sit in your living room and play games you already bought on your computer. They have a large ecosystem but not as large as Sony’s. Their main selling point now is going to be the possibility of cross platform play. If you can sit at your steam box in the living room, and play against your friends at their PC miles away, it will definitely draw a crowd. Also the ability to use a mouse and keyboard for a console would be amazing.

The Ouya is looking to target indie devs and casual gamers it seems. Being built entirely around Android means it will be low power and easy to develop for, but the low power nature means it won’t appeal to hardcore gamers obsessed with graphics. Because it’s open source and cheap, it might appeal to enthusiasts. Also, with a new version being released every year, it will definitely get better with age.

The rest, including phones and tablets, are for people who already have these devices but don’t really want anything extra. These are the super casuals.

Our old friend PC is going through an identity crisis. Windows 8 apparently sucks for gaming, so steam is going for Linux and Mac. Again, these are games that require a computer most people already own.

With that being said, stay tuned for Part II where I really analyze what matters and which one you should buy.

Now that the PS4 is announced, many of you are probably wondering where it stacks up against the competition. This year is going to be a very big year for gaming with all of the new consoles joining the industry as well as the old giants getting updated to modern levels.

The question is – which should I buy?

Well here’s a very brief rundown of the consoles based on rumors, releases, announcements, and just my own experience.

PS4 is the ULTIMATE gaming machine. Tons of games, gamer social network, tons of ways to interact with games, streaming, seamless downloads, take games with you anywhere. This most certainly is a device centered on gaming. Now that it’s based on X86, PC ports will be plentiful. Oh, and this thing is going to be a bit expensive. You can already tell.

Xbox 720 is looking to be a complete home entertainment device, not as focused on gaming as PS4. Reports are saying that Microsoft is planning on making this the ultimate content consumption device for the home. You can count on music, movie, and game services all taking equal placement of importance. Plus you can count on heavy Kinect 2 support. Basically Microsoft wants to replace every box in your living room with its Xbox and link everything in your house to it.

Wii U has already launched to very meager sales. Basically this tried to evolve the Wii’s unique interaction by adding a tablet but it just hasn’t worked out so far. Basically this is more a device for die hard Nintendo fans looking for new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games. That’s about it.

The Steam Box just got destroyed by the PS4 for the most part. Its selling point was that it was an x86 computer that could sit in your living room and play games you already bought on your computer. They have a large ecosystem but not as large as Sony’s. Their main selling point now is going to be the possibility of cross platform play. If you can sit at your steam box in the living room, and play against your friends at their PC miles away, it will definitely draw a crowd. Also the ability to use a mouse and keyboard for a console would be amazing.

The Ouya is looking to target indie devs and casual gamers it seems. Being built entirely around Android means it will be low power and easy to develop for, but the low power nature means it won’t appeal to hardcore gamers obsessed with graphics. Because it’s open source and cheap, it might appeal to enthusiasts. Also, with a new version being released every year, it will definitely get better with age.

The rest, including phones and tablets, are for people who already have these devices but don’t really want anything extra. These are the super casuals.

Our old friend PC is going through an identity crisis. Windows 8 apparently sucks for gaming, so steam is going for Linux and Mac. Again, these are games that require a computer most people already own.

With that being said, stay tuned for Part II where I really analyze what matters and which one you should buy.